


Better Than I Know Myself

by kaijoskopycat



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, v things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 19:20:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1316317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaijoskopycat/pseuds/kaijoskopycat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aomine doesn’t know how it started, but he does know that Kise is the only one who knows him best.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better Than I Know Myself

**Author's Note:**

> Stupid happy fluff. Posting this for V because this is my favorite drabble of all time in the history of ever. Prompt loosely based off [this.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNgSe8ww1cU)
> 
> -H

It was love at first sight, Kise would say. He swore that when Aomine flew past him the way he did when he first encountered a love for basketball that he was offered the sight of a real angel. Then Aomine opened his mouth and spoke.

No angel speaks like that. No angel has a voice so deep and devilishly sexy. 

 

* * *

 

Aomine couldn’t ask for a better partner. Kise challenged him the way no one else could, and the blond never gave up. He’d pick himself up off the ground with a smile and a contagious laugh and reached a hand out as he said, “One more round, Aominecchi. I’ll beat you some day.” 

He might have fallen in love with him the first time he said that. 

"Baka, we’ve played twelve in a row. I’m exhausted." 

Kise would grab the ball and toss it his way. The moment his fingers curled around the familiar exterior, he’d start playing. It was inevitable. Kise knew he would do that. Only Kise knew him as well as he knew himself.

 

* * *

Every first was awkward. 

Their first few “dates” weren’t even ones he was aware of. Kise had grabbed his hand in the haunted house that one Halloween and Aomine let it stay there, convincing himself the entire time that it was only to keep the blond calm. When they went out for milkshakes, he’d bought only one. He told himself that it was because he’d offered to pay and he was short on cash. Milkshakes weren’t expensive. He had enough for two. Back then he hadn’t known it was an excuse to swap spit with the blond. 

Then came the knee taps, the affectionate caresses. 

The first time they kissed, Aomine swore he saw stars. Or maybe it was just Kise Ryouta, famous model, standing in front of him. 

He wasn’t quite sure how they made it to any base, but once there, he wouldn’t look back. A home run was only a sprint away.

 

* * *

 

 

Kise couldn’t remember feeling more excited than the day Aomine suggested they move in together. 

He started planning how every room would look, mapping it out aloud the moment he said yes. He described the color of their bedroom, the tile of the bathroom floor, the pictures they would hang and where they’d hang them, the appliances they would have in the kitchen. He kept going until Aomine stole his breath with a kiss and said, “Shut up, Ryouta. I don’t give a fuck what the place looks like as long as you’re in it with me.” 

Kise smiled and melted against the strong frame as he leaned in for another kiss. He forgot all about interior design. He’d live in a box if he could stay in those arms forever. 

* * *

 

 

It baffled Aomine how Kise always seemed to know what was on his mind. He had become so transparent in front of the blond and it scared him. He wasn’t used to people cracking his shell. He wasn’t used to people removing the mask. He’d built up walls and every moment with the blond brought them crashing down around him. 

It scared him, but he never felt more thrilled, more exhilarated, more  _alive_  than when he was with Kise. 

* * *

 

 

Almost a year had passed since they moved in together and he never regretted a single moment of living with Kise. He loved waking up to those beautiful golden eyes. He loved the kiss goodbye in the morning and the hungry kisses when they both returned home. He even loved the way Kise’s clothing exploded out of their closet, the way his bathroom products littered the floor and balanced on the edge of the sink and the bath tub. He didn’t mind that Kise hung embarrassing photos of them, because those were some of the memories he loved most. 

His father, however, thought otherwise. 

Aomine had been so relieved when Kise’s parents had accepted their relationship. He could sense their hesitation at first, but soon they opened their arms and even started to refer to him as their son. His own parents had been more reluctant. They had vehemently protested at first until Aomine begged them to meet Kise. 

The blond had charmed his mother as he charmed every other woman who knew his name and saw his face on every fashion magazine, but no matter how many smiles or pleasantries he tried on the ace’s father, he couldn’t break through. Kise had been so distressed, convinced that it was him, that he wasn’t good enough. Aomine didn’t know how to tell him how wrong he was.

* * *

 

 

A visit with his father had ended with Aomine storming from his parents home, slamming the door so hard he was certain he heard the frame shudder and threaten to collapse. He paced around the kitchen, fuming as he went over every word in his head. 

_'You think dating a model would change my opinion?'_

_'You could be dating a **female** model.' **  
**_

_'Who’s going to carry on the family name?'_

Then Kise walked in. Aomine had heard him whistling in the hallway. 

"Daiki!" He came in all smiles, cheeks pink and rounded with glee. "I got my new photo book today. The pages still smell so fresh and new." He flipped the pages in his face and took a deep breath. "Wanna see?"

"Not now."

There came the pout. “But I just got it. I wanna share it with you.”

"I said not now, dammit. Show me later."

"I don’t see why it can’t be now. Are you busy?"

"No."

"Then let's look at–"

Aomine slammed his fist against the kitchen table. “I’m not gonna look at your fucking photo book, Ryouta. Goddamnit, I swear you don’t fucking listen sometimes.” 

The outburst was greeted with silence and Aomine felt the instant pang of guilt lance through his chest. 

"Daiki…" Kise’s voice was barely more than a whisper. "What's wrong? Did something ha–"

"I’m not gonna talk about it."

"But you know you can talk to me about anything. I want you to be able to op–" 

Aomine flung himself around and glared at the blond. “I can’t talk to  _you_  about this.” 

He saw Kise’s lip tremble before he spoke. “But if you can’t talk to me… then who are you going to talk to?”

"No one." 

"No one…"

"I’m going to bed." 

"But its only five and I haven’t made din–"

“ _I’m going to bed_.”

* * *

 

 

He didn’t sleep, though he wanted to. He continued to replay the argument with his father in his head. Then he went over his little bout with Kise and realized that weighed more heavily on him than anything his father had said. The pain in those golden eyes when he’d all but told Kise he couldn’t confide in him was still ripping a hole in the ace’s heart.

_And he didn’t cry. That must’ve taken a hell of lot of control_ .

With a sigh, he pushed himself out of bed and made his way into the kitchen. He could still faintly smell the dinner Kise had prepared. 

"Oi, Ryouta. Look, I’m sorry about that. It wasn’t you. I just…"

The living room was empty. There was a note on the table that read. 

           _Daiki <3,_

           _Put your food in the fridge. It’s microwave friendly so you can heat it up!_

           _Went to go shoot some hoops. Be back later._

           _-Ryouta_

Aomine grimaced. His appetite was suddenly nonexistent. He knew what he’d find when he got to the court. He pulled his jacket off the flashy coat hooks Kise had picked out and headed to the park just down the block.

* * *

 

 

Kise wasn’t making a single basket. Aomine could hear the frustration in each labored grunt as he threw shot after sloppy shot. But just like when he was playing one-on-one with the ace, Kise wasn’t giving up. 

Aomine let the chain link door squeak shut behind him, deliberately prolonged the screech to catch the blond’s attention. The look he received made him cringe. That pain was still there, but there was anger now too. 

"Ryouta…"

Kise turned his back and made another failed shot. 

"Let’s play some one-on-one." 

He saw the blond pause, arms half raised above his head. Kise cast a glance over his shoulder, contemplating. 

"Come on. Just one game."

The ball came flying at him and, if he didn’t have those lightning fast reflexes, he would have been hit in the face. Sometimes he forgot how strong Kise was, and still getting stronger every day. The palms of his hands stung and he could still feel the impact shivering up his arms. 

_Alright then_ .

"If I win, you come home." 

"If I lose, you tell me what’s going on." 

Aomine sighed. “That’s not a fair bet and you know it.”

Kise ignored him and bent into a defensive stance. The ace could see the tension tighten the muscles in those slender legs. The ball rhythmically drummed against the court as Aomine absently dribbled it at his side. 

"Fine."

* * *

 

 

"You had a talk with your father today, didn’t you?"

Aomine lifted his head from Kise’s damp shoulder and stared at the blond, incredulous. There it was again. The crack in his walls was widening and Kise held the sledgehammer to break them down. “How the hell did you know that?” 

Kise smiled sheepishly. “Educated guess.”

He wrapped his arms tighter around Kise’s midsection and drew circles on his abdomen below the warm surface of the water. “You looked at my calendar.”

Kise ran his fingers through his wet hair and shrugged against the ace. “Guilty as charged.” He shifted just enough in their small tub to comfortably look into Aomine’s eyes as he spoke. “It was about me again, right?”

Aomine sighed. “Yeah. When isn’t it?” 

A pale hand rose from the water and cupped Aomine’s cheek. “I know his opinion is important to you.”

"Not as important as you are to me." 

These rare, blunt admittances still made Kise blush. He leaned in for a gentle kiss, just ghosting his lips across Aomine’s. “Well then, consider yourself lucky that I have no intention of leaving. No matter what names your father calls me behind my back.”

Aomine shook his head and stole another kiss before he pressed his face into Kise’s neck. “I’m sorry.” 

"Already forgiven." 

"I swear, I need you more than I let on sometimes." 

"I know." 

"Ryouta." Aomine dotted affectionate kisses up the side of the blond’s neck. "There really is only one person who knows me best."

"Is it you?" Kise teased, instinctively tilting his head to offer more of himself to the ace. 

Aomine chuckled and eased the blond’s face back toward his own. “It’s you.” He stole another kiss, lingering, coaxing, exploring. 

When Kise pulled back he whispered. “Best?”

"Better than I know myself." Aomine husked in return. 


End file.
